Product delivery door for vending machines



Jan. 12, 1965 M. LEVINE PRODUCT DELIVERY DOOR FOR VENDING MACHINES 4Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 18, 1962 \nlilxl. vm m uvm mm u mm S a g g wFl $3 "m m E am 7 5 m g .55: m S); a rwv E 8 m m :1 1%- 1 1 #5: l. o. mm m. P c

E N w e L K m M INVENTOR.

By g 9 W ATTOP/VEV Jan. 12, 1965 M. LEVINE PRODUCT DELIVERY DOOR FORVENDING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 18, 1962 MARK LEVINEINVENTOR. BY9 W ATTOP/VZV Jan. 12, 1965 M. LEVINE 3,165,366

PRODUCT DELIVERY DOOR FOR VENDING MACHINES Filed Dec. 18, 1962 4Sheets-Sheet 3 MAHK LEVINE INVENTOR.

ATTO/P/VEY Jan. 12, 1965 M. LEVINE 3,165,366

PRODUCT DELIVERY DOOR FOR VENDING MACHINES Filed Dec. 18, 1962 4Sheets-Sheet 4 MARK LEVINE INVENTOR.

United States Patent 6) 3,165,366 PRGDUCT DELIVERY DOOR FOR VENDINGMACHINES Mark Levine, Bethpage, N.Y., assignor to Continental VendingMachine Corp., Westbury, NY. Filed Dec. 18, 1962, Ser.'No. 245,495 8Claims. (Cl. 31235) The present invention relates to product deliverydoors used in hot and cold food and other types of vending machines. Theinvention does not relate to vending machines in which product deliverydoors are neither used nor desired.

Illustrative'of the vending machines in which such doors areconventionally used are those which either heat or refrigerate, storeand vend food products of various flinds and in various forms ofpackaging, such as platters or trays of hot foods, and dishes ofice-cream and other frozen of chilled desserts. In such machinesdelivery doors' are installed for various purposes, not the least ofwhich is to serve as heat transfer barriers. The problem of heattransfer is essentially non-existent in vending machines which store andsell merchandise at ambient temperatures such as machines which vendcigarettes,'p ackaged candies, and personal articles.

access to the inside of the machine. In the illustrated form of theinvention, the delivery tray is actuated by the product delivery door.When the door is opened, the delivery tray is tilted, thereby permittingremoval only of the purchased product.

In the illustrated form of the invention, the delivery tray-is actuatedby the product delivery door. When the door is opened, the delivery trayis tilted, thereby permitting removal only of the purchased product.

In the illustrated form of the invention, there are three food storageand heating sections disposed in side-by-side relation. The tiltableproduct delivery tray is centrally situated to receive anddischarge foodproducts stored in the middle section. Non-tiltable delivery trays aresituated on opposite sides of "the tiltable tray to deliver I productsstored in the two end sections.

Another problem with which vending machine operproduct delivery door forvending machines of the character described, said product delivery doorbeing adapted to protect the merchandise against theft, to serve as aheat-transfer barrier in order to assist maintaining the merchandise atpredetermined temperatures, and to prevent entry of foreign matter whichmight contaminate the merchandise.

The invention will herein be described with respect to a hot foodvending machine, but it will be understood that this is purelyillustrative and is not intended to limit the application of theinvention to this particular type of machine. The invention isapplicable to all vending machines in which product delivery doors areused.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, as related to hot foodvending machines, the following functions or operations occur in thesequential order given:

l) The product delivery door is maintained in latched or lockedcondition during thefood pre-heating cycle.

(2) The product delivery door is unlatched or unlocked after the foodattains serving temperature and is adapted for vending.

(3) The product deliverydoor is temporarily latched or locked during thevery short period in which a selected food product is ejected from theheating oven or section into the delivery tray.

(4) The product delivery door is unlatched or unlocked following saidtemporary latching or locking period, and it may now be opened (raised)to provide access to the delivered food product.

An important feature of this invention, as hereinabove indicated, is itsprevention of unauthorized removal of merchandise. This feature isattained by means of a delivery tray which delivers the purchasedproduct'by tilting from one positionto another. Its delivery position issuch that it automatically closes off the storage section behind-or'above it, and'prevents unauthorized The details of the invention areillustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is an inside view of the product delivery door, includingoperating mechanism and product delivery tray, shown installed in a hotfood vending machine. FIGURE 2 is a vertical section therethrough on theline 22 of FIGURE 1, showing the product delivery tray in loweredposition, the product delivery door being also in lowered or closedposition.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary enlarged section on the line 33 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section on the line 4--4 of FIGURE1.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary section on the line 5--5 of FIGURE1.

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary section on the line 6-6 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 7 is a vertical sectional view resembling that of FIGURE 2, butshowing the product delivery tray ,in elevated, delivering position.

FIGURE 8 is a front view of the delivery ends of the three food stortgecompartments situated behind the product delivery door.

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary front view of a vending machine in which thepresent invention is installed, showing the product delivery doorin;lowered or closed position.

The drawings illustrate a hot food vending machine 8 having a productdelivery ledge 9 projecting forwardly from its front wall. Immediatelyabove said ledge is a product delivery door 10 which is a lift door,being mounted for vertical sliding movement between a front door plate11 and a pair of guide rails 12. The door may be made of a sheet orplate of transparent plastic material, thereby serving the dual functionof an insulator and a Window.

It will be understood that the product delivery door 10 is a manuallyoperated door, being adapted for lifting by the customer to openposition to provide access to the purchased product. When released bythe customer after the purchased product is removed, it willautomatically drop to its closed position.

Secured to product delivery door 10 is a latch bracket It will now beobserved that locking bracket 16 is a bell crank, notch 15 being formedin its vertical component, and a link 18 being pivotally connected toits horizontal component. This link is connected to the plunger of asolenoid 19 which is rigidly mounted on a support plate 20 secured to aframe 20a in the vending ma- '3 chine. It will be apparent from theforegoing that locking bracket 16 is in locking engagement with thelocking bar 14 when the solenoid is energized and said locking bracketoccupies the position which is illustrated in FIG- URE 1 of the drawingThis involves a counterclockwise movement of said locking bracket asviewed in said FIG- URE 1. It would require a clockwise movement of saidlocking bracket to cause it to disengage locking bar 14, and suchclockwise movement would occur when the solenoid is disengaged. p

Also mounted on support plate 20 is a switch 21 having an actuating armor lever 22. It will be noted that switch arm 22 'is engageable withlocking bar 14 which it controls but this is not a part of the presentinvention and the circuitry is accordinglyneither shown nor claimed.

A bracket 23 of horizontal bar 24 moves integrally with the productdelivery door when said dooris moved vertically either upwardly to openposition or downwardly to closed position. Bar 24 is rigidly secured tosaid V v 4; I forward portion (right portion as viewed in FIGURE 2).This will facilitate'delivery of the food package.

At the same time, section 31a of the delivery tray will be swungupwardly to a predetermined elevated position,

' or closed position.

door by means of vertical side frame frame channels 25.

Door 10, side frame channels 25, horizontal bar 24 and bracket 23constitute a single rigid assembly; It will be observed in FIGURE 6 thatthe plastic plate which constitutes door 10 is held within said sideframe channels 25 which serve as its vertically extending side rails.

Bracket 23 is provided with side flanges 27 which support a cross pin26. Pivotally mounted on said cross pin is a cam assembly 29 which isbest shown in FIGURE 2. This cam assembly comprises a bracket 29a havinga cam shaped element or elements 29b formed thereon at its upper end. Itis the lower end of said bracket 29a which is pivotally mounted on crosspin 26. The upper end of bracket 29a bears against a fixed cross pin 30.The cam formations 29b bear against a product delivery tray 31 which ispivotally secured to the door body 33 by means of a hinge pin 32. p

Remembering that bracket 23 is rigidly connected to the productdeliverydoorli) by means of bar 24 and side frame channels 25, it willbe understood that when said door is manually lifted to open position,cam assembly 29 will also be elevated. However, it will also swingarcuately in counterclockwise direction about pin 26 as viewed in FIGURE2. The upper end of bracket 29a will thereupon ride up on support pin 30while cam formations 2% will cam the product delivery tray 31 to itsupper, product-delivery position. Tray 31 moves upwardly and arcuatelyin clockwise direction about pin 32 as viewed in FIGURE 2.

It will now be noted that product delivery tray. 31 comprises twosections 31a and 31b which are joined to each other at an angle ofapproximately 150 degrees. This is not a critical angle, but simplyindicates an acceptable relationship between these two sections for thepurpose shortly to be described. Interrupted lines 310 represent a foodproduct or package which is to be delivered by means herein disclosed.Section 31b of delivery tray 31 is tilted downwardly and rearwardly fromthe delivery opening.

This is the position of the delivery trayprior to raising the deliverydoor to open position. When the door is raised to its open position, ashereinabove described, delivery tray 31 will swing in clockwisedirection as viewed in FIGURE 2, and section 31b thereof will thereuponassume either a horizontal position or a slightly tilted position in theopposite direction relative to the horizontal position from that shownin FIGURE 2. .In, other words, section 31b of the delivery tray will betilted forwardly and rightwardly as viewed in FIGURE 2, its rearportion. (left portion as viewed in FIGURE 2) being elevated above itsat which point it will serve as a theft barrier, preventing unauthorizedremoval of other merchandise stored within the machine.

A vertical lift guide tube 34 is welded or otherwise secured to bracket23. It will be recalled that bracket 23 is connected to' the productdelivery door bymeans of horizontal bar 24 and vertical channel frames25. Consequently, lift guide tube 34 will move integrally with theproduct delivery door as said door is moved to either open Tube 34,extends 'through a pair of bushings 34a and 34b on a support bracket34c. The support bracket issecured by conventional means to the frame ofthe machine, and it will therefore be understoodthat it is by this meansthat the lift guide tube-34 is itself guided 'for vertical aXialmovement and said tube, in turn, is

thereby also able to guide the product delivery door in its verticalmovement from closed to open position, and back.

A pin 35 extends through guide tube 34 and is held in place therein bymeans of cotter pin 36. This is best shown in FIGURE 3. Pin 35'isengaged by a pair of slotted links 39 and 41. More specifically, theseslotted links 39 and 41 are pivotally mounted on bracket 340 by meansofv pins 42 and 43,'respectively. Slot 38 in link 39 and slot 40 in link41 intersect to accommodate pin 35 above-mentioned. It will now beapparent that .when the The starting position is illustrated in FIGURE1,'

I wherein the. product delivery door is in its'lowered or closedposition. As the door is raised to its upper or open position, tube 34will move upwardly with it and links 39 and 41 will pivot upwardly, tothe extent of shortening thedistance between pins 44 and 45. This willreduce the tension in spring 46. f

After the product delivery door has reached the top of its stroke, andthe food product is removed from the machine, the 'door isreleased bythe customer and it thereupon descends under its own weight or underspring tension, or by any other conventional means which may be designedinto the machine. As the door descends, so willguide tube 34, therebycausing links 39 and 41 to pivot downwardly to their relative positionsin FIGURE 1.

The distance between pins 44 and 45 will now increase,therebyrincreasing the tensionin spring 46. This will serve to cushionand retard the downward movement of the door, thereby preventing damageto the door or any of its associated parts, and also preventing injuryto the I customer Injury has been known to occur in other machines whenthe door is inadvertently or accidentally released, while the customershand is still inserted into the'door opening to remove the purchasedproduct.

The present invention is illustrated in connection with p a hot foodvending machine in which there are three food storage and heatingcompartments situated :behind the product delivery door.. This,ofcourse, is purely illustrative, as will readily be understood.Associated with thesethree food compartments are suitable productdispensing means which may be conventional or not, as desired.

product delivery tray 31 when said tray is in its relatively proneposition shown in FIGURE 2. When the product delivery door is raised toopen position, as above described, the product delivery tray 31 willtilt to its FIG- URE 7 position and thereby deliver the vended product.When the product delivery tray is elevated or tilted to its includeddelivery position of FIGURE 7, it blocks access through the exit door toany of the food storage compartments in the machine. To insure againstunauthorized access to the inside of the machine through said exit door,the food delivery tray is provided with a pair of side wings or flanges52 to preclude such access.

The foregoing is illustrative of the preferred form of this invention,and it will be understood that this form may be modified and other formsmay be provided within the broad spirit of the invention and the broadscope of the claims. For example, it will be clearly understood that theparticular type of mechanical linkage between the product delivery doorand the product delivery tray is not critical. What is essential is thatthe product delivery tray tilt when the door is opened in order todeliver a selected and dispensed product and, at the same time, blockunauthorized access to the inside of the vending machine. The preciselatching or locking means on the product delivery door is not critical.What is required is any latching or locking means which will preventunauthorized opening of the product delivery door.

What is claimed is:

1. Product delivery means for vending machines having at least oneproduct storage compartment, and product dispensing means associatedtherewith, said product delivery means comprising a product deliverydoor and a product delivery tray, said door being movable between closedand open positions, said tray being movable between a product receivingposition in which the tray is adapted to communicate with the productstorage compartment and product dispensing means to receive a dispensedproduct, said product receiving position of said tray corresponding tothe closed position of said door and said product deliv ery positioncorresponding to the open position of said door, a mechanical linkageoperatively connecting said product delivery tray with said productdelivery door, said mechanical linkage comprising a bracket connected tosaid door and a cam connected to said bracket and engaging said tray,whereby movement of the door from the closed to the open position causesthe cam means to cam the tray from product receiving position to productdelivering position, this being a tilted position wherein the trayserves as a barrier preventing unauthorized access to said productstorage compartment and said product dispensing means.

2. Product delivery means for vending machines having at least oneproduct storage compartment, and product dispensing means associatedtherewith, said product delivery means comprising a product deliverydoor and a partment and product dispensing means to receive a dispensedproduct, a mechanical linkage operatively connect-ing said productdelivery tray with said product delivery door to cause said tray to moveinto its said product delivering position when the door is moved to openposition, and whereby said tray is caused to move into product receivingposition when the door is moved to closed position, said productdelivering position of said tray being such as to block access to suchproduct storage compartment and product dispensing means to preventunauthorized product removal, and said product delivery door beingvertically movable between its closed and open positions and manuallymovable in upward direction into open position and downwardly movable bygravity to closed position.

3. Product delivery means in accordance with claim 1, wherein a lockingmechanism is connected to the door to prevent unauthorized openingthereof, said locking mechanism comprising a solenoid-actuated latch.

4. Product delivery means in accordance with claim 1, wherein thesolenoid-actuated latch comprises a locking bracket connected to thedoor, a keeper for said bracket, said keeper comprising a notched bellcrank, and a solenoid operatively connected to said bell crank, wherebyenergization of the solenoid causes the keeper to engage the bracket andwhereby de-energization of the solenoid causes the keeper to disengagethe bracket.

5. Product delivery means in accordance with claim 2, wherein springmeans are provided to cushion the downward movement of the productdelivery door to closed position.

6. Product delivery means in accordance with claim 2, wherein thecushioning means are operatively connected to the mechanical linkagebetween the product delivery door and the product delivery tray, saidcushioning comprising a vertically movable member which is connected tothe door, a pair of toggle bars connected to said vertically movablemember and a spring interconnecting said toggle bars.

7. Product delivery means in accordance with claim 2, wherein a lockingmechanism is connected to the door to prevent unauthorized openingthereof, said locking mechanism comprising a solenoid-actuated latch.

8. Product delivery means in accordance with claim 2, wherein thesolenoid-actuated latch comprises a locking bracket connected to thedoor, a keeper for said bracket, said keeper comprising a notched bellcrank, and a solenoid operatively connected to said bell crank, wherebyenergization of the solenoid causes the keeper to engage the bracket andwhereby de-energization of the solenoid causes the keeper to disengagethe bracket.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,682,942 Starkey Sept. 4, 1928 2,575,300 Schrager Nov. 13, 19512,932,427 Van Brunt Apr. 1, 1960 3,064,856 Council "7..---- Nov. 20,1962

1. PRODUCT DELIVERY MEANS FOR VENDING MACHINES HAVING AT LEAST ONEPRODUCE STORAGE COMPARTMENT, AND PRODUCT DISPENSING MEANS ASSOCIATEDTHEREWITH, SAID PRODUCT DELIVERY MEANS COMPRISING A PRODUCT DELIVERYMOVABLE BETWEEN PRODUCT DELIVERY TRAY, SAID DOOR BEING MOVABLE BETWEENCLOSED AND OPEN POSITIONS, SAID TRAY BEING MOVABLE BETWEEN A PRODUCTRECEIVING POSITION IN WHICH THE TRAY IS ADAPTED TO COMMUNICATE WITH THEPRODUCT STORAGE COMPARTMENT AND PRODUCT DISPENSING MEANS TO RECEIVE ADISPENSED PRODUCT, SAID PRODUCT RECEIVING POSITION OF SAID TRAYCORRESPONDING TO THE CLOSED POSITION OF SAID DOOR AND SAID PRODUCTDELIVERY POSITION CORRESPONDING TO THE OPEN POSITION OF SAID DOOR, AMECHANICAL LINKAGE OPERATIVELY CONNECTING SAID PRODUCT DELIVERY TRAYWITH SAID PRODUCT DELIVERY DOOR, SAID MECHANICAL LINKAGE COMPRISING ABRACKET CONNECTED TO SAID DOOR AND A CAM CONNECTED TO SAID BRACKET ANDENGAGING SAID TRAY, WHEREBY MOVEMENT OF THE DOOR FROM THE CLOSED TO THEOPEN POSITION CAUSES TH CAM MEANS TO CAM THE TRAY FROM PRODUCT RECEIVINGPOSITION TO PRODUCT DELIVERING POSITION, THIS BEING A TILTED POSITIONWHEREIN THE TRAY SERVES AS A BARRIER PREVENTING UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TOSAID PRODUCT STORAGE COMPARTMENT AND SAID PRODUCT DISPENSING MEANS.